Analysis: Video Games - Downgrade Complete?

[In this critical examination, British games journalist and Flash game producer Simon Parkin takes a look at a satirical game that reveals much about the state of game design.]

The evidence that video games may yet emerge from their period of extended adolescence comes not from the dizzying realism of the next Forza, nor from the unrivaled spectacle of the forthcoming God of War, nor even the news that Lara's improbable cleavage is scheduled for a sober reduction in the next Tomb Raider.

Rather, it's in the emergence of a new breed of satirical web game, one most famously exemplified by last year's Achievement Unlocked, which poked fun at gamers' obsessional pursuit of Xbox Achievement points and PlayStation trophies.

"We should be glad of satirical games such as Upgrade Complete which challenge us to identify what it is we find attractive about a particular game, and, as with choosing a partner, discern whether that attraction will be good for us in the long run. Therein lies maturity."